Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"I don't have an e-mail address. As much as I admire the Internet I suffer literally agoraphobia, which in it's original sense means a fear of the marketplace. I do not want to receive three hundred e-mail messages per week from strangers…"
- William Gibson
 |
| Strakh | ||
| The prestige or social prominence which serves as a medium of exchange on the planet Sirene. |
On the Titanic littoral, on the planet Sirene, food and resources are available in such abundance that the finest things of life are available for the taking. The natives of Sirene, rather than pursue material goods, instead put their energy into intricacy.
| Intricacy in all things: intricate craftsmanship... intricate symbolism... and above all the fantastic intricacy of personal relationships. Prestige, face, mana, repute, glory: the Sirenese word is strakh. Every man has his characteristic strakh, which determines, when he needs a houseboat, whether he will be urged to avail himself of a floating palace... or grudgingly permitted an abandoned shack on a raft. There is no medium of exchange on Sirene; the single and sole currency is strakh.
... it would be catastrophic to Sirenese self-respect to gain advantage by means other than the exercise of strakh. |
| Technovelgy from The Moon Moth,
by Jack Vance. Published by Pocket Books in 1976 Additional resources -
|
For example, all Sirenese wear masks to reflect their strakh; you just walk into a maskmaker's shop and pick out what you want. Of course, there's a catch:
"... it's rather important not to take anything from the shops until you know the strakh value of the article you want. The owner loses prestige if a person of low strakh makes free with his best work."
Compare to whuffie from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003) by Cory Doctorow, Jack Vance's social credit system strakh from The Moon Moth (1976) and the sentenced man from Harry Harrison's Robot Justice (1959). See also electronic cash from Heavy Weather (1994) by Bruce Sterling.
"...Wear any mask you like - as long as you can make it stick. This Tarn Bird [which I wear] for instance. I wear it to indicate that I presume nothing. I make no claims to wisdom, ferocity, versatility, musicianship, truculence, or any of a dozen other Sirenese virtues..."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Moon Moth
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Moon Moth
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
Strakh-related
news articles:
- RapLeaf, Whuffie and Strakh
- Reputation As Property
- Klout Score Measures Your Influence
- China's Social Credit System - A Facebook-1984 Mashup
- China Requires Social Credit Codes Of Live Stream Users
| Vesuvius Challenge Accepted - Ancient Burnt Scroll Read! |
| Humans Love Helping Other Species |
| AI-Powered Jesus Hologram Accepts Confessions |
| Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
